SSTL Pens Earth Observation Data Deal with 21AT

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) has signed a 25 million euro ($31 million) contract in Beijing with Twenty First Century Aerospace Technology (21AT) to provide data from a new Earth Observation (EO) satellite (SSTL S1). The satellite is due for launch on a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in the middle of this year.

As the manufacturer and owner of SSTL S1, SSTL will lease imaging payload capacity to 21AT for the lifetime of the satellite, designed to be in excess of seven years. The S satellite will contribute sub-one meter resolution image data into 21AT’s existing TripleSat constellation service, comprising three SSTL DMC3 satellites launched in 2015. The addition of the SSTL S1 satellite will enhance both the revisit capability of the TripleSat constellation and its global high resolution remote sensing satellite data acquisition and operation services, 21AT stated.

The design of SSTL S1 is identical to the present three satellites in the TripleSat constellation. It has a mass of 450kg and is capable of acquiring multiple targets in one pass, using spot, strip and mosaic imaging modes and 45 degree off-pointing agility for a range of applications including urban planning, agricultural monitoring, land classification, natural resource management and disaster monitoring. The very high resolution imager on board the spacecraft will provide sub-one metre resolution images in panchromatic mode and sub-four metre resolution images in multispectral mode, with a swath width of about 24km.